Saturday, February 20, 2010

Death is part of life. I continue to be reminded of this almost daily. Yesterday, on the day that marked six months of Marcus' passing, I learned that Bob Webb, father of my friend Mimi, died. He passed away a few weeks ago, I was told by Betty, my Texas landlord who just lost her faithful four-legged companion, Shippy, due to old age. I just saw Mimi the day I left LA to return to Portland in the RV, so I can only surmise Bob passed away immediately after my visit with Mimi. I met Bob this summer in at Mimi's La Posada Milagro Guest House in Terlingua and made him a Banana Cream Pie. I fell in love with him as if he was a surrogate grandfather and he, in turn, adopted me as his "fifth daughter." Our time together was short but as sweet and nurturing as the vanilla pudding in the homemade pie. Mimi cooked us suppers as Bob and I sat around the kitchen table where he talked animatedly about his days in the war, when he lived in Japan and Germany. He was interested in hearing about Marcus' work (Marcus was workng in Germany this summer) and even spoke a little German with me. Well, now Bob will be able to meet Marcus for himself and ask him all about what it was like to be an engineer with a German automotive powerhouse. Better yet, Bob will be reunited with his two late wives.

Whatever version of heaven you believe in, I like to think there will be a huge smorgasbord of pie and that Bob is up there right now helping himself to the biggest, best piece of Banana Cream Pie he's ever tasted. (As for Marcus, surely he's enjoying some good German beer with his pie.) We'll miss you, Bob. Party on, dudes. And save some pie (and beer) for the rest of us, because we'll all be joining you eventually.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

As promised, we added up the numbers for our pie TV shoot. Here's the final tally.RV Road TripNumber of miles driven in the RV (RT Portland-Los Angeles, and including my Christmas trip to Arizona): 4,521Number of miles I drove RV prior to this trip: 0Number of parking or speeding tickets: 0 (yay!)Number of dings on the RV roof from parallel parking too close to trees: 4Number of hours spent caulking the leaky roof: 5Number of times Janice fought to keep Jack off her lap before giving up: 9

Number of times people honked because of our pie sign in the window: 67Number of Café Lattes served to Janice over 12 mornings: 12Number of times we sang “Pants on the Ground”: 26Number of times we imitated Pigmy Will’s voice: too many!

Number of pie bakers interviewed: 12Age of oldest person interviewed: 92Age of youngest person interviewed: 7Number of people we taught to bake pies: 13 (14 if you include Janice)

Number of pounds of apples purchased: 160 Number of pies baked: 58 Number of pie slices given away on National Pie Day: 384Number of pieces of pie eaten in 12 days: 21 each!Number of pie varieties eaten: 12Number of bites of coconut cream pie Janice ate: 1Number of pounds gained: 0 (Ha!)

MarcusNumber of months since Marcus died: 6 (you didn’t think I forgot about him, did you?!)Number of times we thanked him for doing “advance security” for us: 24Number of times I cried on camera about him: 3Number of hours out of 8 I wished he could have been with us giving out pie slices on National Pie Day: 8

Follow upNumber of post-shoot (hand-written, not email) thank you cards I’ve sent so far: 0 (gotta go so I can get those written!)Number of hours I’ve spent (so far) working out content for the next 12 episodes: 6

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Looking like two snow-capped volcanoes (appropriate for this part of the country!), it was Red Velvet Cupcakes -- not pie -- that were my Valentine's Day treat. While I am not a fan of the whole cupcake craze (how can I be? I'm devoted to pie!), these were homemade by my friend Alison and MUCH tastier than any $4 cupcake I've purchased in a certain Beverly Hills bakery. A perfect anti-Valentine's celebration, we sat at her house last night, curled up under blankets and watched TV, drooling over Apolo Anton Ohno's thigh muscles while jamming the spongy, light things into our mouths. Alison's frosting -- her own combo of cream cheese and whipped cream -- was worthy of a gold medal.

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About Me

Beth Howard is a writer and pie evangelist. She is the author of the bestselling books, "Ms. American Pie: Buttery Good Pie Recipes & Bold Tales from the American Gothic House"and "Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie." Her popular blog, The World Needs More Pie, chronicles her travels, adventures, philosophy, and humanitarian efforts, and explores how pie helped her heal from the unexpected death of her 43-year-old husband. She learned how to make pie at age 17, when she got caught stealing apples from the orchard of a retired pastry chef. She has baked pies for celebrities in Malibu and she’s been a pie judge at the National Pie Championships and the Iowa State Fair. From 2010 to 2104, she lived in the famous American Gothic House in Eldon, Iowa, where she ran the Pitchfork Pie Stand and taught pie-making classes. She is currently working on her next book, a memoir about the misadventures of living in a rural tourist attraction. For more go to: www.theworldneedsmorepie.com